The Tournament of Minds
by Chipolata
Summary: The Z-fighters have been challenged! Their performance will decide the fate of the galaxy! Pick your teams, cause this could take more than brawn to win!
1. A New Challenge

The Tournament of Minds!  
A fanfiction by Chipolata  
  
  
Chip: I came up with this when I was high on caffine. Go figure.  
  
Impmon: Chip don't own DBZ or Jafar, and he's not Jafar, he just looks and sounds and acts like him! Oh, and she don't own Tournament Of Minds. That was invented by a bunch of teachers with too much time on their hands.  
  
Chip: Thankyou Impmon.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
  
  
Vegeta went to bed. He wore the new pyjamas Bulma had given him, which were baby blue with teddy bears on them. Although reluctant to wear them, Bulma had told him that teddy bears were ruthless killers so he decided to try them out.  
  
Vegeta lay down his sleepy head on the soft of the pillow. Soon he was drifting off into dreamy-dream land, running through fields of grass, blowing up local inhabitants. The blood-red moon glowed magically in the sky.  
  
But Vegeta's peacful doze did not last. Soon the musical cries of screams of pain was replaced with the annoying sound of the Z-warrior's voices. "Get up Vegeta!" they said. "Wake up!" "No," he replied. "But look where you are!" they said.  
  
Soon Vegeta lazily opened his eyes. Staring at him with a big grin was Goku, and above him, Piccolo. Both seemed to find something incredibly amusing.  
  
"He's awake." Goku said, and moved back, allowing Vegeta to get up.  
  
"About time!" Krillan complained.  
  
Vegeta looked about him. He was in a room that seemed to go on forever. The floor was grey and completly flat. There was no roof, just blackness where the light didn't reach. The light had no source.  
  
"In bed were you Vegeta?" Piccolo asked.  
  
"Huh?" Vegeta asked.  
  
"Nice PJ's Vegeta!" Yumcha teased.  
  
"What's wrong with my pyjamas?" Vegeta demanded.  
  
"Oh no, Vegeta, there's nodding wong wiv da cute and cuddly widdle teddy bears." Goku teased.  
  
'Darn that woman! She's tricked me again.' Vegeta thought. 'I should have known. If Kakarotto is calling them 'cute' and 'cuddly' then I'll bet their not horrific beasts! Rrr! I'll get her!'  
  
SILENCE! an enormous voice rang out through the room. It was so loud it shook the floor and knocked Tien off his feet.  
  
Everyone shut up immedietly. There was a long period of silence as everyone looked for the source of the voice.  
  
"Hello?" Gohan suddenly yelled. "Who's there?" (11-yo Gohan)  
  
"This is too creepy." Krillan moaned. "We should try and find a way out of here."  
  
THERE IS NO ESCAPE. the voice boomed.  
  
"Who are you?" Trunks cried out. (future trunks)  
  
I AM AN ALMIGHTY BEING FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE. I AM ALL POWERFUL. THERE IS NOTHING I CANNOT DO. it said.  
  
There was silence.  
  
I AM ALSO THE ONE WHO WILL DESTROY YOUR GALAXY, UNLESS YOU DO AS I SAY.  
  
  
  
"What? No way! You can't do that." Goku yelled.  
  
I CAN AND I WILL. YOU MUST DO AS I SAY, OR IT WILL ALL BE ELIMINATED. The voice said.  
  
"What do you want us to do?" Yumcha asked nervously.  
  
YOU WILL COMPETE IN A TOURNAMENT. THE TOURNAMENT IS MADE OF DIFFERENT STAGES. IF YOU COMPETE WELL ENOUGH YOU WILL LIVE. IF I AM NOT SATISFIED YOU WILL ALL DIE.  
  
"What kind of tournament?" Piccolo asked.  
  
"Uh, I don't mean to offend, but you're a little loud. Could you turn your voice down a bit?" Krillan asked.  
  
"Krillan!" Goku snapped.  
  
"And I refuse to trust anyone I can't see." Vegeta demanded.  
  
In a puff of smoke a person who looked and sounded just like Jafar appeared in the middle of the room.  
  
"There. Is that better?" Jafar asked. "Good. Perhaps then I can continue with the rules.  
  
"They are simple. You will fight with teams of four, to be chosen by yourselves. This many-staged tournament will happen at many different playing grounds. The aim is to complete the goal for the stage with as little interference as possible. When you complete a level you gain points. When you interfere you lose points. Killing or not helping a team member also loses points.  
  
"If you die, you will be brought back for the next round, unless otherwise stated. If a team is completly destroyed the round automatically goes to the other side. The team with the most points in the end will win. Any questions?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, I missed a bit of the rules." Krillan said.  
  
"Where should I repeat from?" Jafar asked.  
  
"How about, 'the rules are simple'?" Krillan asked. "J-just kidding." he stuttered when he saw Jafar's evil look.  
  
"You said we're competing for the fate of our universe. What happens if the team working to destroy our universe decides to not do their best?" Piccolo asked.  
  
"That won't happen." Jafar said. "Think of it like it's a football game. If it sufficiently entertains me, you will go free. If I am bored with your performance you will die."  
  
He paused, inviting more questions. When none came, he clapped his hands and rubbed them together.  
  
"Okay then. Time to pick our teams."  
  
  
  
"I absolutely refuse to go on the same team as Kakarot!" Vegeta demanded.  
  
"Fine with me." Goku said.  
  
"I think we've found our team captains!" Jafar said with enthusiasm. "You two get to pick your teams. Goku, would you like to pick first?"  
  
"What? Kakarot choose first? No way! I'm not getting stuck with leftovers. I want to pick first." Vegeta demanded.  
  
"Fine with me." Goku said.  
  
"Hmm..." Vegeta surveyed the players to choose from. There was Krillan, Piccolo, Yumcha, Trunks, Gohan and Tien.  
  
'What a lousy choice!' Vegeta thought. 'None of them are any I'd choose to fight beside. What weaklings.'  
  
"Are you going to pick, Vegeta?" Asked Yumcha.  
  
'Hmm.' Vegeta thought. 'I don't know what kind of game we're playing, so perhaps I'd better pick someone who's smart. Maybe someone who can hide, or someone who has good people skills. I know!'  
  
"I know!" He said to the room. "I choose... Trunks."  
  
"Big surprise. The only person apart from Vegeta who's from Vegeta's blood line." Krillan commented.  
  
"Two more, Vegeta." Goku told him.  
  
"Hmm. I pick..." Vegeta thought for a sec. "I pick... Piccolo."  
  
"Huh??" Everyone exclaimed.  
  
"And Krillan."  
  
"What?" Krillan cried. "Me? Why'd you pick me?"  
  
"I have my reasons." Vegeta snapped.  
  
"Well, that's fine with me." Goku said. "I get Gohan, Yumcha and Tien. Good. I think I got the better line up."  
  
"You do now, but just you wait, Kakarot." Vegeta smirked. "You'll see that I have the better team."  
  
"Excellent!" Jafar told them. "Now we can proceed to your team common rooms. These rooms are where you'll return to after each round to refresh yourselves. It's also where you'll be told your score and the rules for the next round. Usually you'll get one hour to rest before the next round is announced, and then half an hour to plan.  
  
"Vegeta, your team is team Blue. Goku, yours is Red. Please go through the doors into common rooms. Round one will be announced in quater of an hour."  
  
The Z-fighters turned, seeing two doors appear behind them. Vegeta led his team through the blue door, and Goku through the red door.  
  
  
  
In the Blue common room...  
  
"Why'd you pick us, Vegeta? I mean, why not Gohan? He's stronger than us. Isn't that what you were going for?" Krillan asked.  
  
"I chose you lot because I didn't know what kind of tournament we were entering. If I knew it was a fight, I would have pick the stronger people. But I don't know." Vegeta explained.  
  
"But, us?" Piccolo questioned.  
  
"I'm the better fighter here." Vegeta said. "But what that Jafar character said about interfereing got me thinking. It's going to take more than just strength to win. I chose Trunks because of his good people skills, Piccolo because he can think strategy and you Krillan because you're light-footed and can hide easily. We're all smarter than the average Z-fighter.  
  
"Kakarot has a room of idiots. I hope that gives us an edge."  
  
The room was silent.  
  
  
In the Red common room...  
  
"Hey Dad, why do you think Vegeta chose Mr Piccolo? I was hoping we'd get to fight beside each other." Gohan asked.  
  
"I know. I wanted to fight beside Krillan, too." Goku commented. "I guess Vegeta was too stubborn to choose any of us."  
  
"That's fine with me!" Yumcha said. "This tournament is gonna be easy. This is the strongest team by far!"  
  
"Yeah, Yumcha. You're right." Tien agreed.  
  
Red Team continued to talk, laugh and joke.  
  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
(Chip: Hey! So which team are you rootin' for? Red or Blue? Don't worry, you can tell me! Just review! While you're at it, tell me what you think!) 


	2. Round One

The Tournament of Minds  
  
by Chipolata  
  
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***  
  
Chip: Hooray! Chapter 2! I'm finally getting this whole idea down on paper!  
  
Impmon: Chip don't own Dragonball Z or Jafar.  
  
Chip: I give up. I guess he's Jafar. I don't know why tho.  
  
Impmon: Who's going to win?  
  
Chip: I haven't figured that out yet!! Sheesh. It'll come. For now, on with the story!!  
  
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***  
  
The Z-fighters stood once again in the endless room. The two teams stood staring at each other, Jafar in between them. Jafar raised his staff in the air to get their attention.  
  
"Round One." He announced.  
  
All eyes fixed on him. Piccolo stopped wiggling in his new blue robes, Yumcha stopped laughing at him and Vegeta and Goku broke up their staring contest. Well, almost.  
  
"The game mode is Capture the Flag."  
  
A red flag appeared and spun slowly over the red team, and a blue one above the blue team. Each flag had a symbol on it, the shape of the team leader's hair.  
  
"To capture the flag, you must steal the opponent's flag and return it to your base. A capture can only be made if your flag is still at your base. A capture is worth 15 points. You will also have a 'frag' counter, that is, how many kills you make."  
  
The endless room immedietly changed. The cold hard floor was replaced by lush, blue grass and the mysteriously lit ceiling by a green sky. There were rocky plateaus, blue truffula-like trees and a large, green lake.  
  
"The battleground is Planet Namek, at 401 rotations and 82. The time limit is two hours. Good luck."  
  
Jafar disappeared. Vegeta and Goku resumed their stare-off.  
  
GET READY. The voice boomed.  
  
Suddenly, the area around each team warped, and they suddenly found themselves at their new bases. Their opponents were no-where in sight.  
  
3...  
  
2...  
  
1...  
  
FIGHT!  
  
_________________________________________________________________________  
  
Goku, Gohan, Yumcha and Tien stood in a square formation around their flag.  
  
"We seem to be in some sort of crater," Tien commented. "Look, there's a raised platform up there, we could put some sort of scout or sniper up there."  
  
Gohan ran up to the platform and looked around.  
  
"Hey, I've been here! Or at least, over there." He pointed. "I know this area."  
  
He ran back down to the others.  
  
"Well, if we're going to get the Blue flag, we're gonna need to know where it is." Yumcha said.  
  
"Okay then. Gohan, you know where we are, perhaps you could go looking for the Blue base." Goku ordered. "And Yumcha, maybe you'd better go in the other direction. Just in case. Tien and I will stay here and guard the flag. Okay?"  
  
"Okay, Dad!"  
  
"Sure thing, Goku!"  
  
Gohan and Yumcha flew off.  
  
_________________________________________________________________________  
  
Vegeta, Trunks (Future), Krillan and Piccolo stood around their flag.  
  
"Where are we?" Trunks asked, awed.  
  
"This is Planet Namek, Piccolo's home planet. It was destroyed six years ago." Krillan told him.  
  
"Earth's more of a home to me, Krillan. And it hasn't been destroyed yet, not by the time Jafar gave us." Piccolo said.  
  
"What do you mean?" Vegeta demanded.  
  
"401 rotations and 82? That puts us at about a day before the fight between Freeza and Goku." Piccolo said.  
  
"Wait a minute. Gohan, Bulma and I landed here six days before that fight. Are you saying that even though we're playing this game of Jafar's, we're also flying around trying to stop Freeza?" Krillan asked, confused.  
  
Piccolo nodded. "And I suggest we take Jafar's advice and not interfere. We could upset our timeline."  
  
"You have no way of knowing if this really is our timeline or just a cheap simulation." Vegeta snapped.  
  
"Do you want to take that chance?" Piccolo demanded.  
  
"No. But not because of time or whatever, I just want to emerge with the most points." Vegeta smirked.  
  
"So where do we start?" Trunks asked.  
  
"We need to find the enemy base." Piccolo said.  
  
"That's going to be hard. Even flying around could cause a disruption." Krillan pointed out.  
  
"Trunks." Vegeta said. "He can be a scout or something. The rest of us could be recognised by our energy signature. If we give Trunks a disguise and he keeps his power low enough, then even if he's spotted it's still not going to do much damage."  
  
"That's okay time-line wise, but what if I'm spotted by the other team? They'll recognise me." Trunks said.  
  
"Let them get you. I'm not sure how the scoring system works, but I'd rather us losing points for a death than losing points for interfering." Piccolo said. "Here, hold still."  
  
Piccolo held out his hand towards Trunks. Trunks was surrounded by brilliant white light momentarily, and when it cleared he was wearing a Freezan uniform. Blue, full body spandex, body armour with shoulder-pads, white boots with the yellow tips, white gloves, and a helmet.  
  
"The helmet should hide your face in case you're spotted. You don't want to be recognised when you stop by later to warn us of the androids." Piccolo told him.  
  
Vegeta began sensing the area around them.  
  
"Go that way, but be very careful. That's the direction of Freeza's ship. Around this time was when the Ginyu force was burying the dragonballs to hide them." Vegeta pointed North. "Kakarot and Ginyu haven't switched bodies yet. Luckily, some of Freeza's men are still alive, so you should fit in. At this point, I'm still going around killing the last of Freeza's followers, so if you encounter me, let me get you and play dead."  
  
"The only Nameks still alive are Nail, Guru and Dende. I'm not alive yet, they haven't wished me back. And Namek has three suns, so don't expect nightfall." Piccolo told Trunks.  
  
"Okay, that's a lot to remember." Trunks said.  
  
"Hey, why don't I go with him?" Krillan asked. "If you give me a costume like his, I won't be recognised, and I know the area. I also know how Freeza's minions tend to act, I've encountered them a few times. Plus, I don't need to raise my energy to do a lot of my ki attacks."  
  
"Good idea, cueball." Vegeta agreed.  
  
Piccolo gave Krillan a costume like Trunks', but with black spandex. It also had a fake tail sticking out the back.  
  
"What's that for?" Vegeta demanded.  
  
"Makes him more alien looking." Piccolo said.  
  
_________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chip: Woo yea! The battle ground is set, play mode entered, and the teams are setting their strategy into action! Who's going to win this round? Not even I know! So stay tuned in and find out!  
  
Impmon: This isn't a TV show or something. 


End file.
